


Fly Me to the Moon

by jukulele



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Bad Flirting, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Falling In Love, Fluff, For like a hot sec, M/M, Meet-Cute, Soft Luke, To lovers?, and a kiss, bc himbo, literally just pure fluff, plane AU, strangers to friends?, tagging is harder, writing is hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:13:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27522079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jukulele/pseuds/jukulele
Summary: Julie and Luke meet on a plane of all places. Fluff ensues.(Definitely takes place in a non-covid era because they're strangers sitting next to each other)
Relationships: Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 65
Kudos: 418





	1. Fill My Heart With Song

**Author's Note:**

> It's been like almost 10 years since I've written any fanfiction but god help me these idiots made me want to start writing again. I apologize in advance for my rustiness.

She’s never been a huge fan of airports. It’s something about the way the terminal smells right before you board the plane, like a mixture of old hotel linens and that cold air that comes in pressurized cans. Or how you’re forced to sit idly at the gate for hours before departure, twiddling your thumbs while you wait for boarding to start.

It definitely doesn’t help that she always, without fail, gets stopped when going through security. And it’s not like she has something dangerous in her bag. More often than not it’s her hairbrush or her nail clippers. And maybe once it was because of her hot glue gun. But in her defense, she was about go to a music camp far away and she wanted to make sure she had the supplies she needed in case an incredible craft project idea ever struck her. 

But the funny thing is, she loves flying. Or rather, she loves everything about the sky. The colors that project for thousands of miles, the feeling of the sun glowing on her skin, she feels at one with the blue sky above her. When she’s flying, she feels like she’s finally reached her equilibrium, being absorbed by the air surrounding her, as if the plane wasn’t containing her.

So it’s natural that her mood is heavily influenced by the atmosphere above her. She feels pure happiness when the sun is shining bright yellow in a baby blue sky. But she gets stressed and anxious when it becomes gray and gloomy, her nerves turning towards sadness when the rain starts to fall. Foggy days are a hit or miss, like she is waiting to see what happens next as the mist dissipates to reveal what’s on the other side.

Looking out the small window, Julie lets out a loud sigh. The dark clouds are slowly taking over and she wishes for nothing more than for the sun to come out, for there to be luminescent white clouds floating around her as the plane makes its way to Queens. She’s already nervous enough as is for her audition, the extra nerves from the shaded sky above are not helping.

“Excuse me?”

Julie jumps a little at the voice interrupting her thoughts, her head turning quickly to see the person who has called for her attention. And um, _damn_ , because this guy is the dictionary definition of hot. The t-shirt he’s wearing is gripped tightly to his evidently chiseled torso and she swears she feels her heart skip a beat when she meets his face. His eyes are a decadent mixture of brown and green, and just everything about his facial structure shows that he’s been blessed by the gods above. The longer she stares at him, the more he reminds her of a puppy or a teddy bear. The brown hair that comes out in little curls from under his beanie completes the picture.

“You’re in my seat.”

Julie blinks, realizing that she’s probably just spent a socially unacceptable amount of time just staring at him in silence. “What?”

“You’re in my seat, 28F. That’s my seat,” he repeats.

Confused, Julie slowly shakes her head. “Uh, no, I’m in 28F. I chose this seat when I checked in.” She can see the line of people trying to board their flight starting to elongate behind him, a majority of the expressions she catches a glimpse of are bordering on impatience and disinterest.

The guy in front of her juts out his jaw, glancing down at his ticket. “Well my ticket says 28F too.”

“Look, I don’t know what to tell you but–“

A slightly shrill voice interrupts her. “What seems to be the problem here?” A blonde flight attendant has clearly noticed the scene, probably accentuated by the growing line of eager people trying to get to their seats. She props a hand on her hip and the smile on her face is clearly there for protocol reasons as she faces Julie.

The teddy bear-puppy man turns to the blonde, explaining the situation. “Hi miss, I think our seats were double booked. She’s in 28F and as you can see here,” he hands her his boarding pass, “I’m also supposed to be in 28F.”

The flight attendant, whose name tag Julie can now see says Layla, immediately softens her gaze as she listens to the brunette. “Let me take a look at that,” the shrill in her voice suddenly gone, replaced with what Julie thinks is supposed to be sultry, as Layla grabs the boarding pass from the guy. “Hmm, well honey, it looks like you should actually be in 28E. The printer ink may have been a little low, but there’s a faint line at the bottom here.” She points at the slip of paper, bringing her body as close to the man as the boarding pass is to his face.

The guy’s eyes widen, at the close contact or his mistake Julie can’t tell, and he sighs. “Oh, uh, my bad,” he glances between both women.

Before Julie can even mutter any dismissal, Layla places her palm on the man’s chest, which _has_ to be breaking some sort of rule. She bats her eyelashes, looking at him. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, I’m always happy to help.” She winks before pulling away, walking down the aisle of the plane, undoubtedly with more swing in her step as she tries to lure him in.

Julie rolls her eyes before looking back at the guy in front of her, whose face has flushed pink. He rubs the back of his neck then maneuvers out of the aisle and into the seat next to her. “I-I’m really sorry about that,” he stutters out. “I didn’t see the line on the paper, it’s super faint.” He nearly shoves the paper in her face, before quickly retracting it and stuffing it in his pocket.

Julie, just wanting to be the polite, smiles and waves her hand. “It’s not a big deal, don’t worry about it.” She turns to the window again, wanting to resume her thoughts from before this whole ordeal. She slips in her earbuds this time, and scrolls through her music library before deciding on a calming playlist to listen to. If the sky is going to continue darken, at least she can try to negate its effects with relaxing tunes.

She barely gets through the first chorus before she feels someone poking at her shoulder. Pausing her music and taking an earbud out, she raises an eyebrow at the guy next to her, who she would normally think is smiling a little too widely, if he wasn't so darn attractive when he did it.

“I couldn’t help but overhear a bit of your music. You’ve got good taste.” He talks with more passion than a normal stranger would, emphasizing random syllables that somehow accentuate his genuine tone.

Julie nods and smiles, taking his compliment to heart. “Thanks.” An awkward beat passes as they stare at each other, as if waiting for the other to say anything further. Sensing that he isn’t going to say anything else, she slowly turns to the window again, moving to put her earbud back in. 

“Is that your favorite artist?” The guy asks before she can resume her music.

She glances down at the current song, before looking back up and shrugging. “Kodaline is not my favorite, but their songs are really calming. Helps with pre-flight jitters.” She doesn’t wait a beat before pressing play this time, wanting to be consumed by a wave of serenity as the sky outside refuses to brighten up. She’s turned down the volume a little bit since he mentioned he can hear her music and she doesn’t want to bother him more. Unfortunately, that means she can hear him talking to her again.

“Have you seen them live before? I saw them in Paris once and it was magnificent. Life-changing, really.” The guy looks off into the distance as if he can see the band from far way, his smile widening as if he's reliving the experience.

Getting the idea that she wasn’t going to get some peace while sitting next to him, she pauses the music again, removing her left earphone and offering it to him as a silent gift. He looks at her and immediately smiles again, and she has to force herself to look at his forehead, past the aisle to another passenger, _anywhere_ , so she doesn’t keep staring at his pretty face. He gingerly takes the earphone from her hands and speaks as he slips it in his ear. “I’m Luke, by the way.”

“Julie.” She looks at him for a moment, wordlessly asking if he was ready for the song to continue. When he nods, she presses play, sighing as the music fills her ears.

They listen to the next few songs in silence sitting next to each other, both of them sitting straight in their chairs as if any sudden movement would yank an earbud out of either one’s ear. Julie can hear Luke hum quietly and sees his fingers drumming lightly on her thigh. She feels his eyes on her and glances up to find him indeed staring at her. No doubt he just caught her looking at his thighs and that is _awkward_ so she coughs lightly and turns away, her cheeks turning pink.

Overhead, there’s an announcement from the pilot, going through the regular script of pre-departure, flight expectations, all the normal stuff. The flight attendants are coming down the aisles, peering in each direction to make sure everyone’s buckled and no bags are incorrectly stowed. The flight attendant from earlier, Layla, makes her way to Julie and Luke’s aisle, a mysterious glint in her eyes.

She leans over suddenly and unexpectedly, practically shoving her chest in Luke’s face as she inspects his seatbelt. “Looks good to me,” she whispers quietly in a deep voice, even though it’s fairly evident that everyone in the surrounding aisles witnessed that. She stands up straight and winks at Luke again, before continuing her way down the aisle.

Julie cringes and looks to Luke, surprised to find him mirroring her expression. “That was, uh,” she starts.

“Weird? Desperate? Uncomfortable?” Luke offers, shaking his body a bit in his seat like it’ll get rid of whatever just happened.

She lets out a sound that is somewhere between a chuckle and a scoff. “What, you didn’t like that?”

Luke gawks at her. “Was there a part of me that looked like it did?” He asks in a concerned and hushed tone, looking around to see if the other people around them are still looking at him. They aren’t.

Julie lets out a giggle. “No, but I just feel like a hot guy like you would love to be hit on by a girl like that,” she states, not realizing what’s come out of her mouth before it’s too late. “I-I mean, not that you’re _hot_ , but you’re also not ugly, I just – I’m sorry,” she squeaks.

He straightens his back as he stares at her, a slow grin creeping on his face. “You think I’m hot?”

Narrowing her eyes, she remembers she has one thing over him. “Keep testing me and I’ll take back my earbud and your access to my exquisite music taste,” she threatens, her voice clearly lacking any menacing timbre.

“Hey, I only said you have _good_ music taste,” Luke quips back, the smile on his face unwavering. Julie lets out a dramatic gasp, her hand moving to her chest. She makes a move to pluck the earbud from him but he blocks her with his arm, chuckling again. She swears she sees a bright light surrounding him as he laughs, but when she blinks again, he’s smiling still but the halo effect is gone. “But if you keep letting me listen to your music, maybe I’ll bump you up to ‘impeccable’.”

Shaking her head and conceding, Julie drops her arm to her lap. Their bodies are leaning closer than before as a result of the recent interaction, Luke occupying the armrest between them. She opens her music library and finds a different playlist. Even though she wanted to listen to her calming playlist earlier, something about Luke’s presence undoes certain knots in her tension. She presses shuffle and looks at him, only to find him grinning back again. “These are my favorite songs at the moment, so as a forewarning: if you insult any of them, I will kill you.”

Luke raises his hands in surrender. “You have my word.”

When their eyes lock, Julie feels like he means that in more ways than one.

* * *

An hour passes as they reach the end of Julie’s playlist. They mostly listen in silence, except every now and then Luke asks about an unfamiliar song and Julie provides him with song information. Sometimes she even dives into why she loves the song so much - breaking down the song composition or telling an anecdote of her life when the song moved her. When she does that, Luke can’t help but notice the sparkle in her eyes shine a little brighter. She’s passionate about music, and that strikes a chord somewhere deep inside his chest. He starts asking about more songs, even the ones he knows, just to see her talk with such vigor again.

At some point during the last hour, they kept accidentally plucking earbuds out of each other’s ears, so Luke lifted up the armrest between them. And maybe it’s because Luke wanted to be a little closer to the beautiful girl to his left, but he’s glad he can write it off as a means to better listen to her music.

The final song of the playlist closes out and Luke takes out his earbud, giving it back to its rightful owner. “Thanks for sharing that with me.” He smiles a genuine smile. He feels like just listening to music during their flight together has forged a bond.

Julie nods lightly in response. “So does that mean I’m impeccable?”

Luke stares at her for a moment and he immediately thinks, _Of course you’re impeccable. You’re perfect_. “Yes,” he blurts out before he can stop himself. She immediately looks down at her lap at an attempt to hide her rosy cheeks. Luke clears his throat, trying to rid his mind of those thoughts because he _barely_ _knows_ _her_. Even if she’s already given him little glimpses into her life through her short stories. “I mean, yeah, your music taste is amazing,” he says in a more leveled tone, trying to mask the excitement he feels bubbling in his chest.

A few moments pass, as if they’re both trying to process his words. The sound of the engine roaring beneath their feet fills their ears. Most of the passengers surrounding them are either asleep or watching a movie.

“So, are you traveling to New York for business or pleasure?” Luke asks. He feels like he knows a decent amount about her past, but feels an urge to know more about her future. She lets out a sigh and he’s worried the question might be too personal. Is she traveling for a funeral? A high school reunion? It looks like it’s something that brings up bad memories. “You don’t have to tell me anything though, I just wanted to ask-“ he begins to stutter.

Julie waves her hand. “No, it’s not like that. I’ve just got this big audition waiting for me tomorrow morning and I’m super nervous about it and for a while I kind of forgot about it, until you asked.” Her hands move to her lap, playing with her thumbs.

Luke’s face falls at the thought of making her mood turn blue. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” he mumbles.

“It’s fine.” She looks up at him, offering a small smile. “Can’t ignore or forget that it’s happening. That wouldn’t be great for my career.” 

It’s like she says little things that lead Luke to wondering more and more about her life, about who she is. So naturally he queries, “What do you do for a living?”

Julie’s small smile widens a bit. The way he’s asking her some questions make it seem like he’s actually interested in her life and she can’t help but feel her heart flutter a bit at the thought. “I’m an artist, a musician. The audition is for the New York Symphony Orchestra.” She blushes and looks down a bit. She’s never been one to flaunt her achievements, but something about the way Luke stares at her like she’s his idol makes her feel comfortable enough to share.

Turns out she’s right. His eyes widen and almost pop out of his skull. “That’s amazing! That’s awesome! You’re probably gonna smash it, Jules,” he’s on the verge of shouting, his voice booming and attracting stares from the passengers near them.

Ignoring the way her heart skipped a beat when he called her _that_ , she places a hand on his arm to shush him. “Thank you, but really, it’s not that big of a deal.” It’s her instinct to play it off as a small thing, otherwise she might get too into her head about how this could really be a huge step in the right direction for her career.

“Are you kidding?” He’s still speaking with enthusiasm, but has lowered his voice tenfold now. “That’s huge! If your taste in music speaks anything about your musical skills, you’re going to ace that audition.” Luke’s not really sure where all this confidence in her comes from, but there’s really something about her that just makes him so sure about her abilities. Her hand is also still on his arm, and he feels like the added contact is fueling his energy. But the moment he looks at her hand, she notices it too and retracts it. His skin feels cold without her hand there, and he can tell she’s starting to overthink the audition again. “Hey,” he nearly whispers to get her attention, he reaches over and hesitantly hovers his hands over hers. He wants to comfort her but knows better than to make unwanted contact. When she looks up at him, he can see the anxiety in her deep brown eyes and for a moment, he almost gets lost. She looks down at his hands still inches above hers and looks back at him, a corner of her mouth lifting. He takes that as a sign and lowers his hands to hers in an attempt to comfort her. “I know you’re nervous, but really, I think you’re going to be great.”

They’re simple words, but the way he says them like he means them with his every fiber of his being makes the weight behind them grow heavy. Julie places one of her hands on top of his to make a small hand sandwich. “Thank you, that really means a lot.” When their eyes lock this time, there’s something different in the way he looks at her. She can’t quite put her finger on it, but it looks like...admiration?

Neither one of them say anything for a few moments, their hands still touching as their eyes stay on each other. It’s like everything around them slowly fades away. A sudden tone is played on the overhead speakers, and they both jump apart at the interruption. Both flustered and looking away, they gather themselves in their respective seats, awaiting the announcement.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re about to hit some turbulence ahead. Please head back to your seats and buckle up. Flight attendants, please make sure all passengers are safely fastened and head to your seats to brace for some bumps ahead,” the pilot declares.

Julie and Luke are still sitting side by side, neither one of them really wanting to look at each other after the moment they just shared. The flight attendants are making their way down the aisle and Julie, out of the corner of her eye, sees a familiar blonde heading their way.

“Hi there,” Layla speaks directly to Luke, as if Julie isn’t there. “Just want to double check and make sure you are all okay here. Is there anything I can assist you with?” The double entendre she offers is not even subtle, as she places her hands in front of her and squeezes her arms the slightest bit, puffing her chest out a little more. 

And if you ask Julie, she’s not really sure what causes her to do what she does next. But all she can really think about right now is the way Luke was looking at her as he told her she was awesome, and called her _Jules_ , and she hasn’t felt anything like that in a long time. So it’s not really her fault that she feels compelled to keep him to herself, especially if he’s going to continue making her feel that way.

Julie reaches over and places her hand on Luke’s chest in a possessive manner. She crosses her legs, her foot brushing against his leg, and leans her body into his, grateful that Luke pushed up the armrest a while ago. She doesn’t see Luke’s eyes widen at her touch, although his body reactively leans against hers too. “Actually, Layla,” Julie makes a move to place her other hand on Luke’s left shoulder, claiming his body. “I think we’re doing just fine.” She takes a dramatic pause to look at Layla up and down. “I don’t think we’ll be needing your assistance.”

Layla’s eyes meet Julie’s in a challenging look, but she scoffs, turning to Luke for his confirmation, as if the way the two passengers are posed isn’t enough.

“I, uh, yeah, she’s right. We’re, um, good,” Luke gets out, clearing his throat at the end. If he has to speak any more, Luke’s scared his voice might crack because whatever Julie is doing right now is working for him in more ways than one.

Layla rolls her eyes and straightens up. “Well then, have a nice rest of your flight or whatever.” She stalks away, both Julie and Luke watching her recede.

Julie hasn’t moved from her position on Luke as she’s still watching Layla from afar. Luke looks at her, and his breath hiccups from how close he realizes she is. From here, he can see every detail of her face and he has to physically restrain himself from leaning forward because inches away, she's just so beautiful. He clears his throat slightly and Julie immediately flinches at the noise, moving her limbs back into place. “Sorry about that,” she stammers. “She was kind of rude and like about to drape herself over you and I just thought you wouldn’t want that but then I did the same thing to you.”

Luke gapes at her. Ten seconds ago she was acting very confident and possessive which was, _amazing_ , and now she’s awkward and nervous again? “It’s fine, really,” his voice is pitched a little high, his body still trying to recover from what just happened. She looks at him confused, as if she doesn’t believe him. “I mean it, you just saved me from whatever she was trying to do. Thanks.” His gaze is no longer incredulous and is back to that adorable admiring look he’s been giving her the past hour or so. Julie looks downs at her lap, smiling and blushing. 

Minutes pass before Julie starts. “So, what brings you to New York?” Internally, Luke thanks the deities above for her starting the conversation. He’s still recovering from the previous events and while his body has somewhat calmed down, his mind is still firing in all different directions and he would not trust himself to initiate any conversation.

He takes a deep breath, hoping to relax his body a bit. “I’m attending my best friend’s engagement party. He and his boyfriend just got engaged a week ago and they’re throwing this little get-together to celebrate with close friends and family.” Luke chuckles, “Honestly, their engagement is like years overdue. They weren’t even dating for like two months before they started acting like an old married couple.”

The curly haired girl to his left smiled. “That’s really sweet. And it sounds like a great excuse to go out on the town too. I assume you’ll have plenty of friends to hang out with once you’re there.” Her body is turned more to him now and Luke wonders if that means anything special.

He shakes his head at her response. “There might be, but given how often they make fun of me and my nonexistent love life, I’m not sure how much longer I’ll call them my friends,” he jokes. He hopes the mention of his dating life, or lack thereof, doesn’t seem too forward. For some reason, he desperately wants her to know that he’s single and very much available. Just in case she’s interested or something, but he thinks that’s a long shot. She giggles a bit, and he swears that it’s the best sound that’s ever graced his ears – even including all songs that exist in the universe. His eyes land on hers again and he feels struck by inspiration. Perhaps whatever surge of confidence she had had moments ago with the stunt she pulled with Layla has rubbed off on him. “Actually, if you are up for it, you can come with,” he suggests.

Julie feels her eyebrows stitch together slowly. “What?” Her question comes out with a small laugh.

He hopes he hasn’t crossed a line by inviting her. “I just think that after what you did with Layla, you might be very effective in getting my friends to back off for a night.” He feels himself start to flail.

“So, you would want me to act like your girlfriend?” The hesitation in her voice worries Luke a little bit. Maybe he didn’t read her as well as he thought.

“Only if you’re comfortable with it. You wouldn’t even have to do anything really, as long as I show up with you I think they would leave me alone. Plus, it’s tomorrow night so it might be a good way to relax and destress after your audition in the morning,” he speaks urgently to hide his nerves. He really wants her to say yes though. He feels like he’ll be missing out if he never sees her after their plane lands.

Julie still seems uneasy about the idea. “I wouldn’t want to intrude on such an important event, though. Engagement parties should have friends and family, and I don’t know the couple.”

Luke is slightly surprised that this is what she’s worried about – not at the idea of being his fake girlfriend for a few hours. He takes that as a win in his book. “I swear it won’t be a big deal. I’m friends and family and you could be my plus one.” He’s trying not to sound too desperate and kind of wishes he never offered in the first place because this is about to be really awkward if she says no.

To his surprise, she takes a moment to think before slowly nodding. “I guess it would be fun. A night out on the town before flying back to LA.” It sounds like she’s still convincing herself a bit, but Luke is more focused on the verbal confirmation she’s just given him.

“I promise I will personally make sure you have a great time,” he smiles. He hopes that doesn’t sound super creepy or anything, but judging by the look on Julie’s face, he thinks he’s good.

Her body is turned towards him almost completely now and by instinct, he turns his chest towards hers. “Well, if we’re going to be fake boyfriend and girlfriend, we’ll need to get our stories straight. Plus, we should probably know a little more about each other.” Luke’s heart pumps harder in his chest. He can’t believe she’s agreed to this, and on top of that, he gets to know her even better. He pretty much scored a win-win-win situation.

They spend the last leg of their flight exchanging information about their personal lives, their hobbies, their favorite things in the world. He’s astonished to find out that she’s been playing piano since she was barely 2 years old (but also not really because it somehow makes sense), and the look on her face when she realizes that his favorite food is peanut butter and eggs is priceless. They’re constantly laughing and learning more, and it’s like with every bit of Julie that gets revealed, the more he feels his heart tugging.

Julie eventually lets out a large yawn, she really expected that she would get some sleep on this early flight. “Sorry,” she says sheepishly. “Guess I’m a little more tired than I thought.”

Luke shakes his head. “No worries. We’ve got like half an hour before landing if you want to take a quick nap,” he ends his sentence with his own little yawn that bleeds into a small chuckle. “Maybe we should both rest a bit.”

Nodding, they both shift their bodies to face forward again. With the armrest still up, Julie inches her body closer to Luke, her head dropping to his shoulder. Luke, although feeling groggy himself, internally fist pumps. Both of them soon drift off, Luke’s head coming down to rest on top of hers.

Luke wakes up shortly after he’s dozed off, the sound of the pilot’s descending announcement coming over the speakers. Julie’s still asleep on his shoulder. She must be a light sleeper, he thinks. He looks down at her, wondering if there’s greater forces at work that has somehow put them together on this flight. And for a minute, he thinks he can see the future - a vision of her laughing at something stupid he’s said, a vision of her curls sprawled out on a pillow next to him, a vision of a life with her.

He shakes his head slightly. He’s always been a passionate person but he has to be realistic. It’s not like he’s in love with her. They just met and while he might have some pretty good idea of what she’s like, he knows in his head that logically, the warm feeling spreading in his chest is _not_ love...even if his heart might say otherwise.

* * *

But when he wraps his hand around hers as they walk into Willie and Alex’s party on the rooftop of Covington’s Bar, he tells himself that he’s just trying to ease her nerves - not because he has been wanting to know what it feels like to have their hands touching since they met, fingers intertwined the way their limbs would be after a long night’s rest. Except, it might be something like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: I wasn't originally going to write a part 2 but now I've decided to, especially since some people wanted it. Just want some ideas to marinate before I get to writing it!


	2. You Are All I Long For

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The part 2 so many people asked for! I hope you guys like this more than I do - I had like a ton of different ideas of how I wanted this chapter to go so hopefully I did this ending justice!

Luke looks down at his watch for the fifth time in the last 30 seconds. He doesn’t know why he’s so nervous for tonight. Maybe it’s because he’s bringing a complete stranger to the engagement party of his best friend who has always been their friend group’s resident ball of anxiety. Or maybe it’s the fact that he has to pretend that he’s dating Julie.

Yeah, that’s definitely it.

He still can’t believe Julie agreed to coming tonight. She didn’t seem too phased when they spoke on the phone earlier, confirming that they’d meet outside the bar. She sounded kind of excited. But maybe it’s because her audition went really well. Luke doesn’t want to let himself believe that she could be excited to hang out with him, to pretend to be with him.

Luke’s eyes shift downwards to look at his watch again. He’s pretty positive that she wouldn’t leave him hanging. But maybe she’s getting cold feet. Maybe the prospect of having to act like a stranger’s girlfriend for a few hours is too much for her. He wouldn’t blame her completely, even if the thought of facing tonight without her crushes him a little. He pulls out his phone, silently debating whether he should call her or not when he looks up again and — _oh._

She rounds the corner in slow motion and Luke swears that everything around him disappears. All he sees is _her._ Half her hair is pulled back, but her natural curls still cascade down and frame her face. The yellow jumpsuit she’s wearing makes her look like the Sun and Luke knows that his life is meant to revolve around her. He knows he’s staring when she stops in front of him, the most beautiful smile gracing her features.

Luke manages to let out a greeting. “Hey.” He’s slightly embarrassed at how breathy his voice sounds right now but it’s not like he can help it.

Julie’s smile doesn’t waver at all. She tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Hi.”

He still can’t manage to look at anywhere else besides her. “Hey,” he repeats.

Julie giggles and Luke’s heart skips a beat at the angelic noise that escapes her. “You already said that.”

Luke immediately blushes. As passionate of a person he is, he’s never been good with girls. “Sorry,” he shoves his hands in his pocket. “You look really beautiful.” He compliments her because he doesn’t really think his mind can focus on anything else.

“Thank you. You don’t look too bad yourself,” Julie responds. If it were possible, Luke’s face would turn even redder. Why is he so flustered by this girl?

A movement out of the corner of his eye snaps him out of his trance. “What’s that?” Luke points to the small blue box Julie was holding in her hand but is not tucked in her purse.

“It’s a gift. I didn’t want to show up empty-handed. I still feel kinda bad that I’m crashing their party.” She shifts on her feet.

The first thing Luke’s mind points out is that she clearly isn’t nervous about acting like they’re in a relationship. The second thing realization he comes to is that _of course_ she brought a gift for Willie and Alex. If he’s learned anything from their conversations on their flight and throughout the day in preparation for tonight, she’s a very thoughtful person. The third thought that crosses his mind is that she’s not nervous about pretending they’re dating! (Because Luke needs to remind himself of the small wins.) He stays silent as he ponders and lets his head ruminate in that gleeful thought.

“So, ready to go in…boyfriend?” Julie turns her face and winks at him cheekily. Luke’s heart skips a beat at her words. He could get used to being called that. Luke beams at her and offers his right arm like a gentleman, and almost chokes on his own spit when Julie foregoes his arm and reaches straight for his hand, interlocking their fingers.

Luke can’t help but stare down at their interlocked hands where he _definitely_ just felt a jolt of something. The nerves are shooting up his arm and directly to his heart and he squeezes her hand a little tighter almost instinctively. She looks over and smiles at him as they wait for the elevator to reach the ground floor. Once the elevator doors open, the two of them step inside and Luke clicks the button for the roof, watching the doors slide close and trap them both in the small space.

“We should probably go over our story one more time, just to be safe,” Luke recommends. He has to remind himself that she’s just here to act like his girlfriend, even if him acting like her boyfriend is hardly acting at all.

Julie nods at his suggestion. “How long have we been together?”

“3 months,” Luke answers swiftly. “Where was our first date?”

“Drive-in movies and a walk on the beach.” Luke remembers clearly as she came up with the idea when they spoke yesterday in preparation of tonight. The way her face lit up at the idea is etched in his mind - he hopes that maybe he’ll make use of that information someday. “Who made the first move?”

Luke’s mind flickers back to the stunt she pulled with that blonde flight attendant. If he focuses hard enough, he can still remember the feeling of her arm on his shoulder, her hand on his chest, her foot grazing his leg. It was the closest they had been physically, up until she grabbed his hand moments ago. “You.” The way she blushes means that she’s thinking of the same memory he’s remembering. “What’s my favorite TV show?”

Julie stares at him. “Why would they ask me that?” 

Luke shrugs and smiles cheekily. “They probably won’t, I’m just testing you.”

She rolls her eyes at him. “You’re an idiot,” she lets out a laugh. The elevator is nearing the top floor, and she lets go of his hand to reach into her purse. She pulls out a small mirror, double checking her eye makeup. Luke almost lets out a whimper at the loss of contact, but the moment she slips the mirror back into her bag, he wraps his hand around hers again. (It’s to keep up their image as a couple, obviously.)

The elevator dings and the doors open to reveal a short hallway that leads to the outdoor rooftop. They walk until Luke stops them just a few feet short of the door. He knows they have no reason to be nervous, but he rarely ever lies - much less to his best friends - and he’s not entirely sure if he’ll be able to pull this off. Julie waits patiently at his side and gently squeezes his hand to offer some reassurance.

Luke looks over at her and all of a sudden his nerves hit him full force. Deep down, he’s well aware that acting like he’s in a relationship with her won’t be hard because he wants that more than anything. But what if he messes up? What if things get uncomfortable? What if after tonight, she doesn’t want to see him ever again? Could he live with that? At the very least, he hopes that they can be—

“Friends.” Julie’s voice breaks his train of thought. He can almost hear his own heart thumping in his chest, trying to break through his ribcage. Did she read his mind? Is she just establishing a boundary? His initial expression of nervousness morphs into confusion, waiting for her to explain. “Your favorite show, right? It’s _Friends_.”

And just like that, the waves of anxiety Luke could sense were about to crash are gone. The fact that she remembers a tiny detail of their conversation yesterday gives him a little boost of confidence that maybe tonight will go perfect. Or great. He doesn’t want to overshoot it.

He visibly relaxes and squeezes Julie’s hand in his. Julie’s smile widens even more as he nods towards the door, and the two of them walk out to the rooftop where the party is already in full-swing.

Before Luke can fully take in the scene in front of him, he feels the wind getting knocked out of his lungs. He regains his balance that was lost upon impact of the hug, his mind slowly registering two arms wrapped tightly around his upper body, a familiar head of dark brown hair in sight. He lets out a chuckle, slowly patting his hand on Reggie’s back at an awkward angle, since his arms are somewhat restrained under the weight of the hug. “Hey, Reg.”

Reggie pulls away, a huge smile on his face. “It’s so good to see you man! I feel like it’s been years.” He sighs happily, resting his hands on his hips in a contemplative stance.

Luke shakes his head, his hair flopping around slightly in motion. “It’s been like a month or so, Reginald. Didn’t know you missed me so much,” he reaches over to shove Reggie’s shoulder a bit, his voice light.

At the slight shift of stance, Reggie’s eyes land on Julie, who stands silently next to Luke, a polite smile on her face but a sparkle of joy in her eyes from seeing two good friends unite.“And who is this?” Reggie shuffles up smoothly next to Julie, leaning his arm lightly on her shoulder. He waggles his eyebrows enthusiastically, smiling flirtatiously at the brunette girl.

Rolling his eyes, Luke shoves Reggie’s hand off Julie’s shoulder, replacing it with his as he wrapped his arm around her. Luke tries to blink away the spark he just felt when he did that, looking down at Julie. He only makes eye contact with her for a second, but even in such a short moment she has him completely captivated. “This is Julie,” he grins dopily. “This is my girlfriend.” The word comes out a little easier than it should for someone who is lying — maybe the hope he has for that statement to be truthful someday helps the sentence smoothly slide off his tongue.

Julie waves at Reggie and he beams back. “Who would’ve thought?” Reggie asks rhetorically. “Luke Patterson? With a girlfriend? Never thought I’d live to see this day.”

Luke groans, realizing that he’d be due to receive some offhand comments about his previous nonexistent love life at the sight of his now (semi-)flourishing one. “Dude, cut it out.” He notices out of the corner of his eye that Julie is…blushing? But before he has another moment to think about it, Reggie is already babbling to Julie and sharing _very_ intimate details about Luke's life with her in an attempt to embarrass him.

The three of them don't move from where they’re standing near the party entrance, Reggie spending the next while bypassing usual small talk topics and diving straight into asking and answering some _really_ interesting icebreaker questions. He’s glad that Julie seems to be having a good time, judging by her constant grin and occasional giggle at something Reggie’s said. He doesn’t really participate much in the conversation and just happily stands back to watch his best friend and his ~~girlfriend~~ “girlfriend” get to know each other.

Eventually, Julie excuses herself to get a drink, the continuous conversation probably drying her throat a bit. Reggie’s always been overly talkative and Luke’s very impressed that she’s already lasted this long. The moment she leaves, Reggie and Luke dive into catching up.

“There you idiots are,” a familiar voice is heard nearby. Reggie and Luke both turn to see half of the celebratory couple approach them. Alex pats Luke on the back. “Glad you could make it, and on time for once.”

Luke lightly shoves him, laughing dryly at his joke. “Very funny.” He reaches his arms out to give his best friend a hug. He pats on Alex’s back. “Congrats though, Alex. I’m really happy for you.”

“Thanks, man. That means a lot.” Alex smiles the same smile he always has when he’s thinking of Willie.

“Speaking of couples,” Reggie interjects, “Our buddy Luke here has brought his girlfriend.” Luke glares at Reggie for bringing it up, knowing that Alex won’t be too happy about a stranger showing up to his engagement party.

The look on Alex’s face doesn’t enter the realm of anger or disappointment. It tinges on amusement almost. “You brought a stranger to the party? Did you pay for her to come here, or…” Alex trails off, the corners of his lips curving up the slightest bit.

“She’s not a stranger and I did not pay for her to come tonight. She’s my actual girlfriend, okay?” Luke realizes his tone of desperation might give away the act, and he hopes his friends look perceive it as a sense of desperation for them to like her, and not desperation for it to be the truth.

“A girlfriend I’ve never heard of,” Alex quips before he takes a sip of his drink. Alex knows Luke better than anything, and Luke knows that. He’s well aware that he has certain tells when he’s lying, including a change in pitch of his voice. Luke prays that Alex just lets it slide and chalks it up to nervousness instead.

Reggie chuckles at the comment, before clearing his throat at the sight of Julie returning with two glasses of water in her hands. “Speak of the devil.”

Julie’s eyebrows furrow in slight confusion at Reggie’s remark, handing a glass to Luke. She quickly takes note of a new face in the circle of guys in front of her and puts the pieces together to identify him. “You must be Alex! Hi, I’m Julie. Congrats on your engagement.” She offers out a hand for him to shake.

Alex tries to hide his surprise at her joyful and kind demeanor. Luke does not have a great track record with women, Alex knows that all too well. And even on the rare occasion that the boy found himself in a relationship, it was never someone who gave off a genuine vibe like Julie did. Alex decides this is a nice change of pace, even if he’s still a _little_ suspicious about it all. He smiles in response anyway, shaking her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Julie.” Their hands drop and Alex watches as her hand immediately snakes its way around Luke’s arm. “I had no idea our little Luke had a girlfriend though, but you guys are cute, _very_ cute.” Alex winks at Julie playfully, watching as she blushes under the compliment and attempts to hide her rosy cheeks in Luke’s shoulder. Alex decides that while he’s still slightly skeptical of Luke and Julie, considering he never heard a peep about a girl from his best friend, there’s definitely _something_ there that is real. “So how long have you guys been together?” Alex asks.

“Three months.” Julie answers quickly, turning and smiling at Luke, who mirrors the exact same expression.

“How did you two meet?” Reggie pipes up. Luke thinks he seems genuinely curious about their story.

“On a bus. She was listening to some music on the bus and we just started talking. She even let me listen to some of her favorite songs and the way she spoke about each song with such emotion and passion kinda blew me away.” Luke uses his other hand to scratch the back of his head, his cheeks turning pink. “Kinda knew I was a goner then.”

Luke looks at his friends slowly who both stare at him with slightly open mouths. He knows that the story, while mostly true, is enough to convince them of his feelings for her - real or not. He hesitantly looks at Julie, who is staring at him with a different look in her eyes. It’s a mixture between surprise and fondness, like she didn’t expect that from him but appreciated it at the same time. Luke takes that as a win.

Alex clears his throat to break up the staring competition between the couple, and Julie almost jumps at the sound. “Oh, I almost forgot,” she removes her hand from Luke’s arm to frantically dig into her purse. “This is for you and your fiancé,” she holds out the blue box from earlier.

The blonde stammers at her gesture, definitely shocked that this girl, whom he barely knew, had gotten him a gift for the engagement. “You didn’t have to get us anything,” he exclaims, but his words betray his instincts as he takes the gift from her hands anyway. He’s always been a sucker for gifts.

(Later, Alex finds that the gift is a pair of matching cufflinks, with the letters ‘A&W’ engraved on them. When Luke finds this out, he’s stunned and amazed that Julie managed to pull together a custom gift in less than 24 hours. She brushes it off and claims that she knows people in the city. Her thoughtfulness and compulsion to follow through makes him fall a little harder.)

“It’s the least I could do,” Julie says. “I know Luke didn’t let you know I was coming in advance and I wanted to make up for my unexpected presence.” She checks her hips into Luke’s, who chuckles at her jokingly snide comment.

Alex’s eyes visibly soften. “That’s really sweet of you. Thank you, Julie. For the gift and for making up for this idiot’s forgetfulness.”

Luke tries to ruffle Alex’s hair when he reaches over to hug Julie, but Alex dodges out of his way and returns to where he was standing before. Luke wants to pout at everyone making fun of him, but it’s kind of hard to feel anything but delight with Julie standing next to him.

From a few feet away, the group hears another voice calling out. “There you are, babe.” A long-haired guy walks up to the four of them, sidling into Alex’s side and wrapping an arm around his waist. He pecks Alex quickly on the cheek before turning to the group. “Glad you're here _and_ dressed in sleeves, Patterson.”

Luke bends backwards as he groans again. “Is today beat-on-Luke day or something?”

Everyone else laughs and Julie slides her way under his arm again. She’s playing the part of girlfriend really well, Luke thinks. She pats her hand on his chest. “That’s every day, babe.”

And he knows that it’s for show, but the way she calls him _babe_ makes him want to shout from a mountaintop. Instead, Luke narrows his eyes at her as she laughs, the other boys joining in. Alex is first to break the laughter, holding up Julie’s gift for his fiancé to see. “She’s funny and she’s generous! She even brought us a gift, Willie.” Willie’s about to speak before Julie nearly screams.

“Oh my god, Willie?” Julie’s eyes widen in recognition, a laugh coming out as she exclaimed the boy’s name.

Willie looks straight at her, his face immediately morphing from confusion to incredulity. “Molina?” Willie’s voice matches the level of disbelief echoed in Julie’s. “No way! It’s been like, what, 6 years?”

“You guys know each other?” Luke looks between Julie and Willie, eyes darting back and forth, as the two friends entangle their limbs in a tight hug. It kind of reminds Luke of the way Reggie hugged him earlier. They release from each other’s embrace but remain standing closely next to each other.

“Willie was like my best friend in elementary and middle school. He was also our class’s resident hair braider,” Julie nudged her elbow into Willie’s chest, earning an embarrassed laugh from the guy.

“And Julie was my top customer before my family moved away.” He smiles down at the girl beside him. “Man, what are the chances?” The two of them immediately engage into a conversation, filling each other in on the last few years of their lives.

Luke is bewildered at the sight in front of him. What are the chances that Julie is old friends with half the couple? Something tugs at his heart. Maybe it’s meant to be. But maybe it's just pure coincidence.

His thoughts are interrupted by Reggie and Alex, who are discussing the plans for the small performance that Reggie and Luke agreed to put on for the happy couple. “Do you want to start getting ready?” Luke's focus is back on Reggie. As much as he knows he’s promised entertainment as a gift to Alex (and the other partygoers), he feels slightly bad leaving Julie’s side at a party where the one person she actually knows is supposed to be busy hanging out and talking with all the other guests.

Willie assures Luke that he’ll stay with Julie for their set, keeping her company until he’s done performing. “It’s the least I can do, plus I get to catch up with an old friend.” Luke definitely understands the way Willie fondly looks at Julie because he's known her less than two days and he looks at her like she could be his world.

As Luke and Reggie head to the makeshift stage area to prepare, Luke overhears Willie ask about Flynn, who he knows from their conversations yesterday is Julie’s best friend. He feels like he could be missing out on something and finds himself wanting to be a part of their conversation. He wants to know more and more about Julie through what she shares with Willie and makes a mental note to maybe pester Willie later about what Julie and him talk about.

Reggie lightly slaps the back of his hand on Luke’s chest, bringing the boy’s attention back to their conversation. “Dude, look at her. Her and Willie have a lot of catching up to do. Plus, we promised Alex we would play tonight as a gift. You and I both know this is cheaper than having to actually buy something for them.”

Luke nods at his statement. He knows that he has nothing to worry about. Julie can evidently carry herself in all situations, something he’s seeing more proof of the more he spends time with her.

“So,” Reggie starts. The mischievous tone in his voice makes Luke internally groan. Mischievous Reggie is never a good thing. “You didn’t mention Julie when you came to visit last month.”

Luke pauses briefly. He forgot that he had visited the city in the weeks leading up to the proposal to help Willie. “Yeah, well, you know, that weekend was a lot about love and commitment. We were still kinda new and I wasn’t sure where things were going yet.” He shrugs, hoping that it’s enough explanation to fend off further questions.

Reggie raises an eyebrow. “This weekend is also about love and commitment,” he raises his hand to gesture around them, “In case you haven’t noticed.” He opens the case that holds his beloved instrument, slinging the bass over his shoulder. “So now you’re sure?”

Biting his lip, Luke takes a break from tuning his guitar to look over at the bar, where he sees Julie laughing at something Willie’s said, throwing her head back in pure joy. He smiles at the sight, his eyes crinkling. “Yeah,” Luke finally responds, unable to tear his eyes away from Julie. “I’m sure.”

The two of them quickly take the stage, introducing themselves as the live entertainment for part of the night. Intermittent cheers are heard throughout the crowd as they start their first song. It’s a stripped down version of Ed Sheeran’s _Give Me Love_ and as he sings it, Luke feels a little too exposed at the lyrics. He tries not to make eye contact with Julie as he sings _all I want is the taste that your lips allow_ because he’s not sure he can physically, emotionally, or mentally handle whatever reaction she has to that.

Song after song, they play through their curated playlist of acoustic covers for the night (Reggie dubbed it “the most magnificent, love-inducing hits”). As their set goes on, Luke gets a little more comfortable on the stage, and by the fourth song, he’s basically staring right at Julie the entire time he sings. At first she looks uncomfortable, because Luke can’t see the pink tinge of her cheeks as she turns away to avoid his intense eye contact. Eventually she looks back at him and both of them are unable to break each other's gaze.

They were nearing the end when Reggie excused himself quickly, jumping off stage. Luke was sure he was up to some antics but continued to play something instrumental to stall until his friend rejoined him. He finally takes his eyes off of Julie, who has now moved from the bar next to Willie, who is now dancing with his fiancé, to the side of the stage. He focuses on strumming and plucking the strings to create a new melody until he hears Reggie jump back next to him.

Luke glances up to see Bobby, Reggie’s cousin, standing next to him. He nods in acknowledgement to the guy, before furrowing his eyebrows at Reggie, silently asking what was happening. Reggie leans over, muttering under his breath so the microphone doesn’t pick up his words. “Bobby’s going to play the next few songs with me. Go down and dance with your girl.” Reggie pulls back, winks, and grins at Luke’s astonished face. As silly as Reggie could be sometimes, he could also be incredibly deep and thoughtful.

“Are you sure? I don’t mind, dude, we’re almost done,” Luke whispers back.

Bobby speaks up quietly. “Don’t sweat it, man. Plus, the eye sex from across the room is a little much.”

Blushing profusely, Luke silently surrenders, removing his guitar from his shoulder and handing it to Bobby. He mouths a quick thanks to both boys, before stepping off stage to find Julie. When he comes to her side, she’s already smiling at him, a twinkle in her eye. He doesn’t say anything besides “Can I have this dance?” He lays one hand to in front of her, palm up, as an offering.

The smile on Julie’s face widens even more. She places her hand in his, and both their eyes break contact to look down at their connected hands, where a definitive spark was felt by both. Luke slowly raises his eyes to look back at Julie, who is already staring at him, looking at him in a way that makes the entire world crumble around him, makes his surroundings disappear, makes his heart stop for a moment. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Luke can’t help but hold back his elated mood as he twirls her in his arms and they shift over onto the dance floor. Their hands stay connected on one side and Luke moves to place his hand on her lower back, Julie settling her hand near the back of his neck. Each touch lights another spark in Luke, and by the quiet gasp Julie lets out, he knows she feels it too. The close proximity is enough to drive Luke up the wall, because he wants her closer and closer until their bodies are touching, melting into a single entity. But at the same time, he’s content with just holding her here, her head resting on his chest. She can feel every beat of his heart and he can feel her breath on his neck.

“You know, I think we managed to pull this off tonight,” Luke murmurs in Julie’s ears. He watches as she pulls back to look at him, a gentle smile gracing her features.

“That’s all because of you, you’re easy to play off of.” There’s a slight notion of teasing in her voice, but also a sense of grace and reverence.

He’s not really sure what brings him to say what he says next, but there’s a million memories from just tonight that are running through his head. Would it be that crazy to think that this was all just in his head?

Luke dips his head to whisper in her ear again. “There is one thing that we can do to seal the deal.” He feels her shiver the slightest bit in his arms and he grins to himself, lifting his head to take her full, beautiful appearance once more.

Julie’s face leans closer, the words she speaks next are only audible to him. “We _are_ in the final stretch. Go big or go home, right?”

And the moment their lips meet, Luke feels like the world is exploding. Because nothing can compare to this — not the spark he felt whenever they touched, not the warmth of confidence she gave him when she recalled his favorite TV show, not the comfort and ease she radiated to him when he sang. It’s like all the music that has ever existed in the entire world have been wrapped up into this single moment.

Julie _is_ music, Luke thinks.

She’s thoughtful like country, sassy like R&B. She’s gorgeous like a brand new six-string, but beautiful like a well-loved acoustic. She fires him up like a building EDM beat and keeps him cool and collected like a well-rehearsed melody. She’s what he wants to hear the moment he wakes up to face the world and the last thing he listens to before he rests his head at night. And best of all, he knows that after this, he won’t be able to live a day without her.

——

Some day, a few years later, he tells her those exact words at the altar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like the ending was kinda rushed but I'm over here like "now kiss"

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it! :) I promise my next work will be less rusty.


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